CHP’s Pekşen calls for boycott of fraudulent elections

Pekşen, saying that trust in ballots and elections had come to an end in Turkey, said, “The law has been demolished at the AKP’s instigation. Non-existent voters have been created with false voters’ rolls. An election held under these circumstances will be tarnished and serve no other purpose than to legitimise illegality. These elections should be boycotted.”

CHP Trabzon member of parliament Haluk Pekşen made a press statement on alterations made to civil registry records and electoral integrity.

Pekşen, indicating that false voters had been created through tampering with civil registry records and an election held under these conditions would be illegitimate, said, “The fruit of a poisonous tree is also poisonous. The records are false and the people are false. Everyone embroiled in the dirt of this falsehood becomes contaminated. You know, there is a common saying, ‘Are we doing a correct thing or are we doing a thing correctly?’ By now, everyone in Turkey knows that the AKP is not doing a correct thing.”

The following is a summary of comments made by the CHP’s Pekşen on electoral and polling integrity at the Parliamentary Constitutional Commission:

You have been unable to erect integrity within society

In Turkey, there is a constitution of which the AKP General Chair has knowledge but none of us has, which changes according to the circumstances and which he has thrust onto Turkey’s agenda. Such is this constitution that it changes by the minute, hour and day, also according to our mental state. You have demolished legal certainty in its entirety and have been unable to erect it. Yes, you are erecting. Concrete, roads and motorways. But, you have been unable to erect integrity in this country and the biggest problem in any case is integrity. There is no electoral integrity and there is no polling integrity.

You did not heed our warnings

Look, we have been talking for days about the integrity of personal data. We have called out from here. We said, “This is a method for international bodies, at your instigation, to appropriate the entirety of Turkey’s personal data. Do not fall into this trap.” Look at the agreements Turkey has made with the USA. We said, “If you obtain this personal data under certain conditions in line with those agreements, tomorrow it will all be used against us as a strategic danger for Turkey.” You paid no heed.

People who died a century ago are shown to be alive in the records

Recently personal data has come to public attention. We have all dipped into personal data with great curiosity wondering what our grandfather’s father’s name was, where are roots go back to and if there are any dark secrets. But, we have seen that things are very different. In what way? Many of us have seen that our ancestors who died in the past are shown to be alive. There is a consideration that goes beyond whether they are now alive or dead. Today, an alteration is alleged to have been made knowingly and willingly to the entire voters’ rolls. There are alleged to be more than two million fabricated voters.

Citizens have no faith in electoral integrity

We are speaking of electoral and polling integrity in such circumstances. I do not think that anyone in Turkey has faith in electoral integrity. We all know how elections are and will be run and what will emerge from the ballot box. Everyone knows and there is nobody who does not. Friends, none of you are saying, “How on earth can false identities be created like this? This is not on.” Why? Because unfortunately this is so and you know it, too. I know the things I am saying speak loud and clear to your consciences. You are all people who have consciences. If so, please bring the legal order into conformity with conscience.

Why are those responsible for this fraud not investigated?

There can be no remaining in power like this, with methods of this kind. You can usurp power. Usurping power and remaining in power are different things. Consciences sanction remaining in power. Do not imagine you are in power having usurped posts. Who compiled these false documents? Which particular computer is this? Who entered this data? How many such data entries were made on these computers? Ask this, for heaven’s sake. Without asking this, it is naive to expect trust in elections like this. There is no need for you to hold an election under these conditions, anyway.

What is being done is not elections but legitimisation of illegalities

Let me state my personal thought. I do not know if my party will agree with my thought, but my personal thought is to boycott all elections that are subsequently held. Because this is not an election. This is the endeavour to cloak a transgression, an illegality, in legitimacy. While these things had yet to emerge, we went to the polls and held elections, but the name of this is not “election”. Do what you want, but do not try to tell the eighty million that all these illegalities are legitimate. Nobody will believe it.